After having to go through the gauntlet of a difficult non-region schedule, the Lake Oconee Academy Titans’ volleyball team has started off region play undefeated.
The Titans went 3-5 during that stretch of play, but head coach Chris Ingle’s team responded once they started to line up against region opponents.
First, the team defeated the Washington-Wilkes Tigers in a doubleheader at the end of August. Then, Lake Oconee Academy beat Greene County in two consecutive matches last Tuesday and Thursday.
Ingle acknowledged how the girls’ focus on the fundamentals during volleys has helped the Titans get back to above .500 this season, and credited Greene County’s program in the process.
“We’ve really focused on our fundamentals, our serving and passing, and more than anything, focused on our effort and intensity, from start to finish,” Ingle said. “Greene’s doing a great job of building their program from basically scratch since this time last year and looks tremendously better, but we want to continue to focus on us.”
The Titans have seemed to be focused, and it’s paid off.
Before the team left for a tournament in Sugar Hill, Ga. this past weekend, the Titans were 4-2 in their last six matches and have yet to lose at home, accruing a 4-0 record since the start of the year.
Ingle attributed the team’s determination to the leaders in the locker room, coming together and promoting effort and high-quality play.
“We’ve got new players, a couple of freshmen starting, and we were really needing our chemistry to come together,” Ingle said. “Last week, the team captains called a meeting to talk through a lot of things, and it’s been unbelievably better since then.”
The Titans are now 7-5 on the season and hold a perfect 4-0 region record heading into their next area match against the Oglethorpe County Patriots.
The Patriots are 7-10 on the year but are the only other team with a 4-0 area record as well, so the Sept. 13 matchup against the Titans will be for first place, outright, in the region.
Lake Oconee Academy saw Oglethorpe County three times during the regular season last year, but the Titans only defeated the Patriots on one of the occasions.
For this week, the Titans will rely on senior Love Kalpak and junior Chloe Manville to keep the team’s fire lit heading into their toughest area matchup to this point.
“Our captains this year are Love Kalpak and Chloe Manville, and they’ve both been in the program a long time,” Ingle said. “Chloe’s definitely our more vocal leader, and then Love is the one that’s really stepped up to help with the team’s chemistry. In the last couple of games, everyone has been playing well. Our serving percentage has been high, and if we keep it up, we can be successful.”